Lacrosse Teams Still Look For Wins
On Saturday, April 5, the women’s lacrosse team snapped their winning streak at four game overall and two in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The loss was handed to them by the Niagara University Purple Eagles with a final score of 12-8 on Kessler Field.
The Hawks blew their early lead in the first half as Niagara was able to overcome the deficit late in the game by going on a 6-3 run. With the loss, the blue and white fall to (5-6, 2-1 MAAC) while the Purple Eagles improve to (5-5, 1-1 MAAC).
Junior midfielder Allison Stathius led the way for MU by compiling three goals. Senior attacker Danielle Rakowitz added a pair of goals in a losing effort. As for the Purple Eagles, the duo of Maria Battista and Carrie-Jo Farrugia combined for eight of the 12 total goals in the victory.
The game began with Niagara jumping out to an early two-goal lead. After a stalemate for a few minutes, the Hawks soared back and scored the next four goals in just a five minute span. However, the Purple Eagles answered back and scored two goals in 37 seconds to tie up the game.
Senior attacker Cassie Campasano scored to give the blue and white the lead 5-4 with 8:18 remaining in the first frame. Battista contributed her second goal of the game and Kristen Winter added another goal in the final 7:11 of the half as Niagara took a 7-5 lead into the break.
In the majority of the second half, the teams traded goals in this back and forth affair. After the first 17 minutes of the second half, Stathius scored her second goal of the contest to cut the Purple Eagles lead to 8-7 with 13:31 left in the game.
However, Niagara put the game out of reach for good when they scored four straight goals. Rakowitz ended the scoring with just 29 seconds to play, as the blue and white fell 12-8.
Niagara’s Farrugia led all scorers with five goals in the game. Teammate Battista added a trio of goals in the contest. Despite the outcome of the game, the stat sheet was close. Niagara led the Hawks in shots 22-18 and committed 13 turnovers compared to MU’s 12.
The blue and white used two goalies in this contest. Junior starter Katie Donohoe allowed 10 goals in 48 minutes while only stopping three shots. Sophomore keeper Caroline Huelster came on in relief and allowed two goals while making one save.
Junior attacker Emily Barbieri and freshman midfielder Claudia LaMarca scored the other two goals for the blue and white.
MU returns to action on Wednesday, April 9 when they travel to Manhattan to take on the MAAC Jaspers for an 8 pm game time start.
The women then travel to Philadelphia, PA to face the Drexel Dragons on Saturday, April 12 at 7 pm. The Dragons are 5-7 with four wins at home.
